Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Rod Stewart gets old... ies

Classic songs of yore are normally dusted off and rerecorded by some of the music industry’s young up-and-comers looking for a hit, or some of the industry's vanguards wanting to maintain their status while broadening their maturing fan base.

It’s a renaissance of sorts, and a cash cow of others.

So, it came as no surprise when Rod Stewart put out an album of standards a few years ago: The Great American Songbook. The surprise came when it went to number one, sold millions and allowed him to record four more of these themed albums.

These songs are classics and there is no way for the Idol finalists to fuck them up.

Of course, even I’ve been wrong once before…

**

Man in black – What a wonderful world. The man in black can actually sing a song instead of shout it out. And, for the next few weeks (because you will be in the final three), you’ll continue to rip into every heavy metal song you can.

Lady in red – Foolish things. Except for e-nun-ci-a-ting every word of the song (now, that was a foolish thing), your performance was composed and confident; remarkable for a 17-year-old.

Shades of grey – You send me. The first two-thirds of the song were kinda blah. Then you tore it up and ripped it apart (in a good way) in the end. Thank God you didn’t dance.

Violet Elliott – It had to be you. You brought a smooth and soulful jazziness to the song that eliminates any trace of sappiness. It was a good performance, but this may have been your third strike (I still love you, though).

Pink bubbles – Bewitched, bothered and bewildered. The beginning of the song started off quite lovely. Then it became bemused, baffled and befuddled. Oh, and your reaction to when Rod told you to “remember the words and the lyrics” was priceless.

Baby blue tie, baby blue eyes – That’s all. If you sang Chris’ song choice, you would’ve blown everyone away. But, this wasn’t bad. It would’ve been better one note below the one you sang because it did get a little nasal (and I know nasal) in the middle of the song. That's all.

Sparkle and shine – Someone to watch over me. The crowd goes silent as Linda Eder sings to her fans. She looks to the cameras on cue and gives them the look. Her voice enraptures millions of people. She knows she’s good, and part of me wants to smack that smugness out of her.

**

Although Rod’s cheekiness was kept in check with his renditions of these songs, it’s nice to know his naughty humour comes out in his interviews.

6 Comments:

I was thinking of you as I watched last night. I thought they were all good last night, and that made me think that it must be the songs that make the singers look good.

I think Paris' voice is so unique, almost like Ella Fitzgerald. I think the pickler should go because of how she way fucked up the song at the end. And don't we already have a famous blonde bimbo in one Paris Hilton? That's enough for one world, don't you think?

Some friends and I decided to attend a Canadian Idol taping last year and I made the mistake of going to get the tickets in person. Dozens of 11 year old girls and me - same thing at the show, gay men and young teenage girls. It was lotsa fun though, particularly after all the pre-show cocktails we had.